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Cannabis Laws In The Uk

CANNABIS CAMPAIGNER'S GUIDE THE LAW

The UK Law, the Dangerous Drugs Act 1925 which made cannabis illegal was passed on September 28th 1928. This was a result of errors that grouped cannabis in with narcotics during the Second International Opiates Conference in 1924. Cannabis cannot be classed as a dangerous drug.The UK Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 listed cannabis as a Class B drug and banned its medicinal use.

It has since been reclassified to class C and the sentence on possession reduced.

MISUSE OF DRUGS ACT 1971
This is the offending law under which people in the UK can be prosecuted for possession, cultivation, supply, possession with intent to supply, production, importation or exportation of the plant which many people find sacred. One can also be prosecuted for being knowingly concerned with these offences, or conspiracy to commit them (you do not have to do anything but agree to break the law to be guilty of conspiracy).

Sentencing varies throughout the land but are usually in agreed guidelines. These are: for possession anything from a caution to 2 years; for the other offences anything from a conditional discharge to 14 years. Generally the more that the amount involved is worth, the harsher the sentence.

A strange anomaly in law is that one can be prosecuted for 'allowing one's premises to be used' for the above offences. It is an offence to let people smoke or eat cannabis on your premises. It is also an offence to allow people to smoke opium, but strangely enough it is not an offence to allow the injection of heroin or the snorting of cocaine!

Human rights were finally brought into UK law with the passing of this act of parliament in 2000.
The act offers the UK citizen some protection of basic Human rights and Fundamental freedoms as laid out in the European Convention.
The prosecution of people for the possession, use and small scale cultivation, of cannabis in private, is contrary to several articles of human rights, in particular Article 8, according to eminent UK barristers.
As of May 2001, several cases are pending at the appeals court to decide whether the Misuse of drugs Act is compatible with the Human rights Act
You read more about this here.

MAGNA CARTA AND THE JURY
The Magna Carta established that no man shall be punished for violating the King's law except by the lawful judgement of his peers. Since then trial by jury has served as the final safeguard between government and the people.

The jury's power to say 'no' was put to the test in 1670. The trial of William Penn and William Mead resulted in one of the most important developments of the common law jury. During the previous six years English juries often acquitted Quakers for violating Parliament's command that all religious services conform to Anglican ritual. The King's Bench frequently responded to verdicts for acquittal in such trials by fining jurors.

When the common law juries refused to enforce the Crown's religious intolerance, London soldiers locked and guarded the doors of Quaker Church. Penn and Mead preached in the streets and were arrested.

On the following page is the text of a plaque that is outside the Old Bailey Courthouse.

Near this site William Penn and William Mead were tried in 1670 for preaching to an unlawful assembly in Gracechurch Street.

This tablet commemorates the courage and endurance of the jury, Thomas Vere, Edward Bushell and ten others, who refused to give a guilty verdict against them although they were locked up without food for two nights and were fined for their final verdict of Not Guilty.

The case of these jurymen was reviewed on a writ of Habeas Corpus and Chief Justice Vaughn delivered the opinion of the court which established the Right of Juries to give their Verdict according to their conviction.

This means that the jurors have the right to decide on the justice of the law. If a jury decides that the actions of the accused, although in fact breaking one or more laws, does not deserve punishment then they are entitled to return a verdict of not guilty, irrespective to any instructions to the contrary from or demands of the judge.

There have been other trials where this has happened. A recent case in Liverpool is a more modern example. Although admitting to the several acts of supplying her sick daughter with cannabis, she pleaded not guilty to charges under the Misuse of Drugs Act. The stated that the supply was medicinal albeit illegal; and that the supply was not misuse. Having convinced the jury that her act did not warrant punishment they found her not guilty. This was after a great deal of pressure from her solicitor and barrister who wanted her to plead guilty.

The judge normally reminds the jury of their oath. The oath is that they will reach a verdict on the evidence alone. Judge, Prosecution and Defence all fail in their duty by not telling the jury that they may acquit if they find the law itself to be unjust. The FCDA claim it may be a cause for appeal for almost every trial by jury conviction this century. This is probably why the wigs do not wish to deal with the problem.

A person on cannabis charges could plead not guilty irrespective of the evidence. It would then be up to his defence to prove the law unjust and tell the jury of their Right. Most judges specifically ban any argument on the justification of the law. In that case there would be grounds to appeal, if you get a legal representative to take it on. Otherwise the question is can you convince the jury.

In America there is a body called the Fully Informed Jury Association. They advocate telling the juries of their rights, including consideration of defendant's motives as part of the evidence and their right ton acquit or convict according to their conscience.

The jury has the right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy- Chief Justice John Jay USA

I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet imagined by man, by which government can be held to the principles of its constitution-Thomas Jefferson (1789)

I'd like to thank the OP for posting the links but I don't see an icon for that post, so I'll stick with a verbal thanks.

Interestingly -as my eyes popped right out of my head- in the UK Cannabis is listed as a Schedule 1 drug (High level of control) because.. get this.. it has "no recognised medical uses". What-the-fuck?!?!? Are they serious? Are they out of their minds or what? It's been used medicinally for thousands of years by many cultures on the Earth!

What panel of monkey's did they have mis-advising them on that?

Truly unbelievable. I knew our government were ignorant, I just didn't realise how ignorant until I read that act!

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Tabbatha For This Useful Post:

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The New Zealand Skilled Migrant visa category offers people with the relevant qualifications and work experience the opportunity to immigrate to New Zealand to fill specific roles identified by the New Zealand Government,

I've removed your advert from your signature and the link above, and if you spam the forum again, I'll ban you!

To be fair they did have David Nutt , who was main adviser to the government at the time and his findings where that weed and other drugs are less harmful than the drugs we can buy ie beer. This was not based on him being a hippy and wanting free love , it was based on scientific FACT but when the government was given these FACTS they did not like them and the got rid of him and replaced him with a puppet they could tell what THEY want the facts to be not what they really are. I also read the paper that was sent to the government when asked about the re class before it was done , and it states that there is NO way it should be class b and that the law will do more harm than the drug it's self . so they did try .

I was busted with 17 flowering plants and a few cuttings, the charge was for 37 plants. IImagine how much i shit myself when hearing the sentence WILL be a mandatory 15 to 18 months inside, even though first offence and NO INTENT TO SUPPLY.

"In the United Kingdom, use of drugs, other than opium, is not an offense. Possession and acquisition of drugs is an offense, and the UK divides drugs into three categories for the purpose of law enforcement. There are no special provisions exempting drug addicts from criminal responsibility.

Cannabis and cannabis resin are grouped into Category B. The penalty for possession and/or acquisition of a Category B substance is a summary offense of six months' imprisonment and/or a fine of L400, or upon indictment up to five years in prison. In practice, the courts usually impose a fine in cases involving cannabis products. Trafficking (also to include personal cultivation) carries a possible twelve months in prison and/or L400 fine."

if you were to grow 2-3 (big) plants for strictly personal use is this a sentencible crime?

"In the United Kingdom, use of drugs, other than opium, is not an offense. Possession and acquisition of drugs is an offense, and the UK divides drugs into three categories for the purpose of law enforcement. There are no special provisions exempting drug addicts from criminal responsibility.

Cannabis and cannabis resin are grouped into Category B. The penalty for possession and/or acquisition of a Category B substance is a summary offense of six months' imprisonment and/or a fine of L400, or upon indictment up to five years in prison. In practice, the courts usually impose a fine in cases involving cannabis products. Trafficking (also to include personal cultivation) carries a possible twelve months in prison and/or L400 fine."

if you were to grow 2-3 (big) plants for strictly personal use is this a sentencible crime?

No in a word. If you had previous it could be, but with a clean record you defo would not be looking at custody.

gutted

Originally Posted by inTrouble

EVERYONE BEWARE THE SENTENCING GUIDES HAVE CHANGED.

I was busted with 17 flowering plants and a few cuttings, the charge was for 37 plants. IImagine how much i shit myself when hearing the sentence WILL be a mandatory 15 to 18 months inside, even though first offence and NO INTENT TO SUPPLY.

DOES ANYONE KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS PLEASE? Due in court next week.

Thanks all, happy smokin'

Hey man just thought id stop by to share my experience wid ya, personally i had 7 plants all about 2 weeks in to flowering, with one 600 watt light n a few fans and some nutes, they took everthing exept the plaster board i used to partition my room, i was then took to the station to make a statment and my solicitor just told me to tell them it was all for persy and that i could smoke it all in about 2 weeks, wich i probably could lol so i did this and then they took my finger prints and stuff, after that i was givin a lift home in a riot van, they issued me with a caution because it was my first offence... if theres one bit of advice i can give any grower its DONT TELL ANYONE FULLSTOP. Peace out brother hope you dont end up doin time a fine or community service should be in order, but i gotta say fancy doin that many lol

The Following User Says Thank You to Bobby Digital For This Useful Post:

thanks for getting back to me.I'm just getting so pissed of with this bad hype about weed and not the up side to it i.e the medical use. Also feeling that everyone around you enjoy's have a smoke yet we can't do a thing about it the goverment need the eye's open instead of looking at the negative side

THCtalk.com Disclaimer - You must be over 18 years old to view/use this site .THCtalk.com does not encourage growing Cannabis or possessing Cannabis. Learning how to grow Cannabis instructions should be for educational purposes only. All Information contained in this web site is for: Historical reference, Scientific reference and Educational purposes only. Visitors to this website are advised against breaking the law as It is illegal to smoke, grow, or possess cannabis in the UK